AMU ABK HIGH SCHOOL (BOYS)
Class VIII
SUBJECT- History
Chapter 7 - Women Caste and Reform
Question 1:
What social ideas did the following people support?
Rammohun Roy
Dayanand Saraswati
Veerasalingam Pantulu
Jyotirao Phule
Pandita Ramabai Periyar
Mumtaz Ali
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
Rammohun Roy: He supported the banning of the practice of 'Sati' in 1829 and
try to solve the problems widows faced in their lives.
Dayanand Saraswati: He supported Widow Remarriage
Veerasalingam Pantulu: He supported Widow Remarriage and
formed association for the same.
Jyotirao Phule: Supported equality among castes
Pandita Ramabai: Supported Women's Education, Economic Independence for
women and set up widow homes
Periyar: Supported equality for untouchables.
Mumtaz Ali: Supported Women's Education.
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar: He used the ancient to Supported Widow
Remarriage and law was passed in 1856 by the Britishers.
Question (2) State whether true or false:
(a) When the British captured Bengal they framed many new laws to regulate
the rules regarding marriage, adoption, inheritance of property, etc.
True
(b) Social reformers had to discard the ancient texts in order to argue for reform
in social practices.
False
(c) Reformers got full support from all sections of the people of the country.
False
(d) The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1829.
False
Question (3) How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers
promote new laws?
Answer-
Whenever the reformers wished to challenge a practice that seemed harmful,
they tried to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts that supported
their point of view. They then suggested that the practice as it existed at present
was against early tradition. Thus, the knowledge of ancient texts helped the
reformers promote new laws.
Question (4) What were the different reasons people had for not sending
girls to school?
Answer-
When Vidyasagar in Calcutta and other reformers in Bombay set up schools for
girls, many people had different reasons for not sending girls to school.
They feared that schools would take girls away from home, thereby
preventing them from doing their domestic duties.
They felt that travelling through public places to reach school would have
a corrupting influence on girls.
They felt that girls should stay away from public spaces.
Question (5) Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in
the country? Would some people have supported them too? If so, for what
reasons?
Answer-
In the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries were attacked by many
people in the country because they suspected that they were involved in
the forced conversion of poor and tribal people from Hinduism to
Christianity.
They also started setting up schools for tribal groups and lower-caste
children. These children were trained to find a footing in the changing
world.
Soon the poor left the villages and started looking for jobs in the cities.
People who looked down on the lower caste did not like the progress of
this section of people.
Social reformers would have supported the missionaries for their work
against social evils
Question (6) In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for
people who came from castes that were regarded as “low”?
Answer-
The British period saw the rise of the cities. Many of the poor began
leaving their villages and towns to look for jobs that were opening up in
the cities.
As the cities grew, there was a great demand for labour for digging drains,
laying roads, constructing buildings, working in factories and
municipalities, etc.
This required coolies, diggers, carriers, bricklayers, and sewage
cleaners. This demand for labour was met 09.
Women's Caste and Reform by the population migrating from the
villages and towns.
There was also the demand for labour in the various plantations, both
within the country and abroad. The army too offered employment
opportunities.
Many of these migrating people belonged to the low castes. For them,
the cities and the plantations represented the opportunity to get away
from the oppressive hold that upper-caste landowners exercised over
their lives and the daily humiliation they suffered.
Question (7) How did Jyotirao the reformer justify his criticism of
caste inequality in society?
Answer- Jyotirao Phule was the most vocal amongst the “Low-caste”
leaders.
He attacked the Brahmans’ claim of their superiority to others. He
argued the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the
subcontinent and defeated and subjugated the true children of the
country and saw as inferior.
According to Phule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and
power. In reality, the land belonged to the so-called low castes.
Phule opined that there existed a golden age when warrior-
peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just
and fairways.
He proposed that the Shudras (labouring castes) and Ati Shudras
(untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination and
formed Satyashodhak Samaj .
Question (8) Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American
movement to free slaves?
Answer-
Jyotirao Phule wrote a book in 1873. He named the book Gulamgiri
meaning slavery. Some ten years before this, the American Civil War had
been fought, leading to the end of slavery in America. He did this in order
to establish a link between the conditions of the lower castes in India and
the black slaves in America.
This comparison also contains an expression of hope that one day, like
the end of slavery in America, there will be an end to all sorts of caste
discrimination in Indian society.
Question (9) What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry
movement?
Answer-
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar started a temple entry movement in 1927 which was
participated by his Mahar caste followers. Brahmin priests were outraged when
the lower castes used water from the temple tank. Dr. Ambedkar led three such
movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935. He aimed to make
everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society.
Question (10) Why were Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical
of the national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle in
any way?
Answer-
Both Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker were critical of the national
movement as they could barely see any difference between the
preachers of anti-colonialism and the colonial masters.
At a feast organised by nationalists, the seating arrangements followed
caste distinctions, i.e., the lower castes were made to sit at a distance
from the upper castes.
This convinced him that the lower castes had to fight their battle
themselves. Their criticism did lead to rethinking and some self-criticism
among the upper-caste nationalist leaders.
Their assertions, forceful speeches and writings did lead to rethink
and self-criticism among the upper caste nationalist leaders.
